By Royal Appointment: The Van de Veldes come to England

Anne Newman

Jul 30, 2024 • 4 min read

As you will gather over the coming weeks I am now in England enjoing a wonderful holiday. But I never travel overseas without reflecting on the early migrants (and more recent ones also) who risked everything (including their lives) to travel thousands of miles across the wild and untamed ocean in search of a new life. Perhaps this is where my great love of sailing ships comes from and I seldom miss the opportunity to take in any exhibition which includes the most beautiful structure ever made by humans - the sailing ship.

Last year when I was in England I saw a wonderful exhibition on the maritime paintings created by the Van de Veldes. Please see below for a brief summary of their remarkable journey from Amsterdam to establish a very privileged life in England thanks to King Charles II.

Display explanation from The Art of the Van de Veldes, Queen's House Greenwich

My favourite work in the exhibition was The Battle of Scheveningen, 10 August 1653 by William Van de Velde The Elder.

It wasn't the violent battle of sailing ships which attracted me to this painting but ... if you look very closely William Van de Velde, The Elder has painted himself into the scene.

The work itself was created in 1665 and is a pen painting on panel which makes the painting look like an etching which is very attractive in its style. But the personal touch of William Van de Velde makes this a very special painting especially as he has his son besides him teaching him the art of being an artist. The exhibition explanationn states:

Here, Van de Velde the Elder includes himself in the small vessel in the left foreground as an eyewitness to the battle. Seated with his back to the viewer with a sketching board propped up on his knee and wearing a broad-brimmed hat, he records the action between the Dutch and English. A younger man, perhaps Van de Velde the Younger, stands beside him and watches the master at work, learning through observation. ¹

Let's zoom in so that you can see William Van de Velde, The Elder sketching the battle from the small boat in the foreground. And also please now note the brilliant detail William has included in the representation of the ships.

Close up of a section from The Battle of Scheveningen, 10 August 1653 by **William Van de Velde The Elder**

As we get in even closer to the image you can see the amazing detail of line and shading. This is a true genre artist at work - placing himself right in the middle of the battle and so conveying the thought action so that the artist can feel the action, the drama unfolding before his eyes and therefore gain more powerful skills to transfer this incident from real life to his drawing board.

As you admire the drawing skill of Willian Van de Velde please note the figure of his son standing beside his father as if he is attending a lesson in his father's studio.

The best way for you to enjoy the exhibition is to watch the video The Art of the Van de Veldes which comes live from the Queen's House, Greenwich (nearly 50 minutes) and produced by the staff at the Queen's House, Greenwich where the exhibition was held.

Explanation for the video

In 2023, the Queen’s House will host a brand new art exhibition dedicated to the artists Willem van de Velde the Elder and Willem van de Velde the Younger.

This special live broadcast is your chance to come behind the scenes, as our curators and art conservators prepare for this landmark event.

Learn about the Van de Veldes and their work, and discover how some of their most fragile pieces are currently being prepared for display.

Joining us from the Netherlands, Head of Collections Jeroen van der Vliet will provide a special tour of the Van de Velde exhibition currently on display at the Scheepvaartmuseum in Amsterdam.

Plus find out more about the impact the Van de Veldes had on maritime art in Britain, and see how their work is still inspiring young people today...

Find out more:
Join the event: https://www.rmg.co.uk/whats-on/online...
Who were the Van de Veldes? https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/...
Conserving the Solebay tapestry: https://www.rmg.co.uk/support-us/save...
2023 exhibition coming soon: https://www.rmg.co.uk/whats-on/queens...
Willem van de Velde & Son exhibition at the Scheepvaartmuseum: https://www.hetscheepvaartmuseum.com/...

Royal Museums Greenwich is comprised of the Royal Observatory, Cutty Sark, the National Maritime Museum and the Queen’s House. Learn stories of exploration, endeavour, wonder and awe at these four historic museums, all located within a UNESCO World Heritage Site.’

Facebook:royalmuseumsgreenwich X:rmgreenwich Instagram:royalmuseumsgreenwich

If you love paintings of sailing ships as I do and you missed my series on the sailing ships as painted by Australian maritime artist Robert Carter OAM please use the search tool at the top of the post with the key words Robert Carter - you will not be disappointed.

^Credit
^{1. Information from BHC02771 Caird Collection, The Art of the Van de Veldes Exhibition, the Queen's House Greenwich}
^{2. Information provided for the video: The Art of the Van de Veldes which comes live from the Queen's House, Royal Museums Greenwich.}

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